﻿562 
  Proceedings. 
  

  

  the 
  market, 
  in 
  order 
  to 
  determine 
  when 
  each 
  kind 
  is 
  in 
  season, 
  deserve 
  great 
  praise. 
  

   What 
  are 
  now 
  wanted 
  are 
  similar 
  observations 
  in 
  Wellington 
  and 
  Auckland. 
  A 
  comparison 
  

   of 
  the 
  results 
  at 
  the 
  three 
  places 
  would 
  give 
  data 
  from 
  which 
  could 
  be 
  deduced 
  a 
  tolerably 
  

   correct 
  idea 
  of 
  the 
  habits 
  and 
  peculiarities 
  of 
  the 
  common 
  native 
  fishes. 
  

  

  The 
  last 
  of 
  the 
  miscellaneous 
  papers 
  is 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Jenkins, 
  on 
  the 
  scientific 
  form 
  of 
  

   harbours. 
  Although 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  conclusions 
  may 
  not 
  be 
  considered 
  orthodox 
  from 
  

   an 
  engineering 
  point 
  of 
  view, 
  it 
  contains 
  much 
  valuable 
  information 
  on 
  a 
  subject 
  of 
  

   popular 
  interest, 
  consequently 
  the 
  paper 
  is 
  well 
  deserving 
  of 
  a 
  place 
  among 
  our 
  records. 
  

  

  The 
  five 
  pubhc 
  lectures 
  given 
  on 
  the 
  alternate 
  fortnights 
  during 
  the 
  session 
  were 
  well 
  

   attended. 
  They 
  are 
  useful 
  adjuncts 
  to 
  our 
  means 
  of 
  disseminating 
  information, 
  and 
  tend 
  

   to 
  popularize 
  the 
  Institute. 
  The 
  lectures 
  were 
  all 
  of 
  a 
  high 
  class, 
  interesting 
  and 
  instruc- 
  

   tive, 
  and 
  elevating 
  in 
  tone 
  and 
  character. 
  The 
  gentlemen 
  who 
  delivered 
  them 
  have 
  

   earned 
  our 
  best 
  thanks 
  for 
  the 
  trouble 
  they 
  took 
  in 
  the 
  matter. 
  

  

  In 
  looking 
  back 
  on 
  the 
  career 
  of 
  the 
  Otago 
  Institute, 
  I 
  am 
  interested 
  in 
  comparing 
  its 
  

   actual 
  work 
  with 
  what 
  I 
  expected 
  from 
  it. 
  Although 
  I 
  had 
  no 
  immediate 
  share 
  in 
  estab- 
  

   lishing 
  the 
  Institute, 
  I 
  claim 
  to 
  have 
  at 
  an 
  early 
  date 
  suggested 
  its 
  formation. 
  In 
  

   September, 
  1866, 
  a 
  year 
  before 
  the 
  New 
  Zealand 
  Institute 
  Act 
  was 
  passed, 
  and 
  three 
  years 
  

   before 
  the 
  Otago 
  branch 
  was 
  established, 
  the 
  "Daily 
  Times" 
  published 
  a 
  letter 
  of 
  mine 
  

   on 
  the 
  subject. 
  This 
  letter 
  defined 
  what 
  I 
  considered 
  should 
  be 
  the 
  objects 
  of 
  such 
  an 
  

   association 
  in 
  a 
  new 
  country, 
  and 
  the 
  means 
  by 
  which 
  they 
  were 
  likely 
  to 
  be 
  attained. 
  

   Briefly 
  the 
  objects 
  were 
  to 
  be 
  : 
  — 
  The 
  investigation 
  of 
  the 
  natural 
  resources 
  of 
  the 
  country 
  

   from 
  an 
  industrial 
  point 
  of 
  view, 
  and 
  their 
  fitness 
  to 
  our 
  everyday 
  wants 
  ; 
  the 
  develop- 
  

   ment 
  of 
  manufactures 
  ; 
  the 
  encouragement 
  of 
  the 
  construction 
  of 
  labour-saving 
  

   machinery 
  ; 
  and 
  the 
  consideration 
  of 
  engineering 
  works 
  generally, 
  in 
  their 
  application 
  to 
  

   the 
  requirements 
  of 
  the 
  country. 
  

  

  The 
  means 
  suggested 
  for 
  attaining 
  these 
  objects 
  were 
  what 
  are 
  now 
  followed 
  in 
  the 
  

   papers, 
  discussions 
  and 
  Transactions 
  of 
  the 
  Institute, 
  together 
  with 
  the 
  estabhshment 
  of 
  

   an 
  Industrial 
  Museum. 
  

  

  Thirteen 
  years 
  have 
  passed 
  away 
  since 
  the 
  above 
  ideas 
  were 
  crudely 
  expressed, 
  but 
  

   they 
  have 
  brought 
  no 
  material 
  change 
  in 
  my 
  opinions. 
  As 
  shown 
  by 
  Sir 
  George 
  Bowen, 
  

   in 
  his 
  opening 
  address 
  to 
  the 
  parent 
  society 
  in 
  Wellington 
  in 
  1868, 
  I 
  hold 
  that 
  the 
  

   principal 
  object 
  in 
  the 
  establishment 
  of 
  the 
  New 
  Zealand 
  Institute 
  is 
  to 
  facilitate 
  the 
  

   practical 
  work 
  of 
  colonization. 
  

  

  I 
  do 
  not 
  for 
  one 
  moment 
  deprecate 
  the 
  efforts 
  of 
  those 
  who 
  devote 
  all 
  their 
  energies 
  

   to 
  the 
  investigation 
  of 
  purely 
  scientific 
  subjects 
  ; 
  New 
  Zealand, 
  from 
  its 
  geographical 
  

   position 
  at 
  the 
  extreme 
  end 
  of 
  the 
  habitable 
  globe, 
  its 
  peculiarities 
  in 
  Natural 
  History, 
  

   and 
  its 
  newness 
  in 
  almost 
  every 
  sense, 
  will 
  long 
  remain 
  an 
  object 
  of 
  the 
  greatest 
  interest 
  

   to 
  scientific 
  men. 
  What 
  I 
  regret 
  is 
  that 
  practical 
  science 
  should 
  occupy 
  far 
  less 
  of 
  our 
  

   deliberations 
  than 
  its 
  theoretical 
  confrere, 
  whereas 
  their 
  positions 
  should, 
  in 
  my 
  opinion, 
  

   be 
  reversed. 
  1 
  would 
  not, 
  however, 
  like 
  to 
  see 
  the 
  number 
  of 
  scientific 
  men 
  reduced. 
  

   What 
  is 
  wanted 
  is, 
  that 
  a 
  somewhat 
  more 
  practical 
  bias 
  should 
  be 
  given 
  to 
  their 
  studies 
  — 
  

   a 
  great 
  increase 
  in 
  the 
  number 
  of 
  workers 
  in 
  applied 
  science, 
  and 
  increased 
  enthusiasm 
  

   amongst 
  the 
  few 
  that 
  do 
  exist. 
  If 
  half 
  the 
  energy 
  that 
  is 
  sometimes 
  displayed 
  in 
  con- 
  

   sidering 
  the 
  microscopic 
  distinction 
  between 
  two 
  species 
  of 
  animalcules 
  was 
  only 
  applied 
  

   to 
  the 
  investigation 
  of 
  our 
  mineral 
  resources, 
  the 
  result 
  would 
  be 
  an 
  incalculable 
  benefit 
  

   to 
  the 
  whole 
  community. 
  

  

  The 
  present 
  state 
  of 
  things 
  is 
  probably 
  caused 
  by 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  the 
  prizes 
  in 
  the 
  arena 
  

   of 
  pure 
  science 
  are 
  greater 
  than 
  in 
  the 
  more 
  practical 
  field. 
  A 
  comparatively 
  unimportant 
  

  

  